Sep 11, 2016

A visual diary of our staff member Justin's trip up the left coast to get some Bay Area cuisine, see some sights, and capture some city moments along the way. We currently proudly stock Tellason denim made right in San Francisco so we always take the chance to stop in and catch up on what's next there as well. See you soon SF/ Oakland. Keep a coffee on for us.

Aug 10, 2016

Mornings on the coast feel good. Between early Del Mar waves, shop light beams, and pouring warm coffees, the scent is always something we consider when the day starts. We've spent this season refining our offering in store of incense from Norden, our core candle in the By The Sea Collection entitled Night Waves, and bars of scented soaps from Tanner Goods mixed with Ironsmith Coffee to make a morning scent second to none. It's the little things that make the big difference.

Apr 10, 2016

Feb 18, 2016

Dec 30, 2015

Dec 02, 2015

Oct 13, 2015

Jul 05, 2015

All photos thanks to our go-to lifestyle photographer Taylor Abeel at Sojourn Imagery. He surfs as good as he takes photos and his eye for detail in photography is one of our favorite things about his work.

Jun 11, 2015

Jan 19, 2015

Here at Lone Flag we love basics. A t-shirt that is super soft to the touch, fits proportionally and maintains a slimmer cut, and one that is premium in the cotton weight and made in USA is hard to find. Really hard. After selling multiple other brands that were making basics and never finding that perfect one, we took it upon ourselves to make them better and with our own custom specs and fit. Months of work went into working with the right factory in LA, the sampling, pattern-making, dye process, and the branding on them. At the end of the day, we love the result. Our best-selling in store item and our daily wear rotation shirts are these basics. If you don't have one yet, you should and you won't want to wear anything else.

All of our current curved hem pocket basics below are seen on a few of our favorite SD brands and creators below. Bradley Mountain is one of our favorite brands and best allies in this business and we work with them closely on co-branded bags and accessories made right here in our city. They are makers and doers that share a space at the Moniker warehouse in East Village, a community of creatives that have revitalized an old building and given small businesses and dreamers a place to congregate and work together on projects. It is one of many burgeoning new concept businesses happening in our city that we are excited about and looking to partner with deeper in 2015.

Nov 20, 2014

Earlier this month our friend Taylor Abeel, a local photographer and legitimate sailor, hit us up about a shoot he was planning on a tall ship called the Amazing Grace out in the harbor in San Diego. It's one of only a handful of it's kind in the world so we jumped at the chance to shoot with him and get out of the shop for a day and in the water to sail the point out in the bay. Beyond the fact that the ship was amazing aesthetically, there is so much that goes into sailing a craft like this one, it's a beautiful skill and process to witness firsthand. We got lost for a bit in this scene of a ship in the water with panoramic sunset views of our city that we love, it became the perfect backdrop to showcase casual and timeless basics that fit seamlessly in the crisp air of Fall/Winter out on the water. Winter is upon us. Enjoy

Oct 08, 2014

Fall is officially here and we're pumped. This season brings with it not only cooler weather but also a solid line-up of LF private label products and brand collaborations. This past week we launched our navy wool SD hat that we did with Seasoned USA. We're biased on them, but we think they're pretty damn perfect. Later this month we will be releasing a limited number of bags from our Bradley Mountain x Lone Flag collection along with more private label basics and home goods. We don't want to spoil anything but we've been working on a few projects with some of our favorite brands: Rogue Territory, Broken Homme, Boutonne and THVM. Get ready friends, this season is gonna be epic. Join our mailing list to keep up to date on our upcoming small batch releases.

Aug 29, 2014

Twice a year we take a trip out to Vegas trade shows to meet with brands, develop deeper relationships, work on special collabs, and generally just spend good time together out of the shop. This month we hit the road together, drank too much coffee, cruised the desert and arrived in time to spend 3 days buying and meeting with our collaborative partners and brands we work with at Capsule and Liberty at the Sands Expo. As a small team we split time between walking the shows and working alongside our SD friends at Aloha Sunday at Capsule. The best part of being in this business is the people, so we take every extra chance we can to grab a drink with old friends, laugh together, and encourage our fellow brand owners and small business makers in what they do. We're all in this together. Til next year Vegas...

Aug 02, 2014

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past 10 months, it’s that relationships matter deeply to us and you can't work around the clock all day, every day (although we often try). Getting away from work, even meaningful and passionate work, to spend real face to face time with friends and family is a necessity. Built into part of what we do here and who we are as a company is the desire to be an inspiration to everyone around us to get out, live more, engage with people, take some risks, and experience life together in true community. After pouring in countless hours at the shop and outside work at Lone Flag this Summer, our newest brand/shop team member Devon and his friends spent this past weekend up in Lake Arrowhead CA drinking coffee slow, talking, laughing, taking in the sun, and capturing some moments along the way. As a team, we're pumped on having him here and always encouraged to see one of our own living life well, with thoughtful intention, and with purpose. Work really hard...then sometimes you can play hard too.

Can't wait to see you all soon and have a cup of coffee in the shop to hear more about your Summer.

Jun 26, 2014

The MidWest. As much as we love San Diego, call the town our home, and champion it, we still have deep roots in the middle of the country. I grew up in Minneapolis, MN and spent a lot of time in the lakes and woods of MN and WI as a kid. Now, to take the family back and get out on a lake and fish, drink simple canned beer, lose all cell service, and laugh around meals and fires is the best getaway I can think of. No frills, no extra expenses and luxury travel, just family, friends and the beauty of the woods. A lot of what our brand and store represents are directly tied to these roots in the MidWest. Things there are made to last, people care about how an item functions and want to pass it on down the line, and residents of the smaller towns generally want to live in community with one another and support their neighbors. We hope to be about that as well and carry that tradition and feel on in our home in Southern California through our shop and the brands, products, friendships and relationships we represent and foster here. If you haven't made it through the shop yet...come hang out. We'll have a beer together and catch up like old friends.

May 21, 2014

The last few days we've been holed up in an amazing little cottage at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach shooting for our Lone Flag Fall mens line catalog that we'll have some sneak peeks of shortly. After getting catalog shots of all our upcoming Fall line pieces, we took the opportunity to also capture some lifestyle looks of a few of our favorite current Spring pieces in the shop from other brands that we genuinely love.
We were also excited to have some of our Lone Flag family over for a group dinner to celebrate the people we love that pour their time and support into making the business a reality in an effort keep ourselves committed to focusing on making our space and brand as relational as possible. A few days of getting work done, great laughs with friends, quiet moments with our family, and early dawns out catching waves at the local break around the corner were all we needed to recharge for the rest of the month and all the events and long days ahead. We're continually reminded how important it is to take time together as a family and enjoy one another as well as to remain so grateful for doing work that we're passionate about that ultimately isn't really a job since we love what we do.
*For info on the cottage you can go here - If you've been looking for an inspirational getaway or are from out of town and want to come visit SD and see us at the shop, this is a great option for you to check out as a place to stay on the beach and in the ideal center of town in Solana Beach.

Apr 11, 2014

We've been friends with Tyler from Bradley Mountain for a while now and have loved his well crafted bags and leatherwork. It's been a staple brand for our shop and a piece of who Lone Flag is as a champion for all things made well and made locally. While we stock brands from all over the country, Bradley Mountain is one of the best ones we carry and since we now how much time and effort goes into each piece, we can't help but be big advocates for it.
This next Friday Lone Flag will be hosting the launch of the Spring collection for Bradley Mountain that includes several one of a kind custom pieces co-branded with the shop. These will be limited in nature and are designed to sell out and be completely unique to the piece. Come join us and celebrate craft coffee, beer, friends, family and product well made.
April 18 - Lone Flag - 6-10PM

Jan 04, 2014

On November 8th, we celebrated the launch of Lone Flag in Del Mar with all of our friends and family. If you didn't get a chance to be there, this video serves as a telling recap of the night and all of the great people who have supported this dream since it's inception. Since the very beginning we've been dedicated to being community focused, so it's a beautiful thing to see it take form in the brick and mortar store. So excited for what's to come in 2014....the future is big.
A huge thanks to the awesome duo behind Korus Media for capturing all of this so well.

Dec 28, 2013

Nov 26, 2013

We talk a lot here about the importance of a room. My good friend Vince, who has been a huge part of getting this project off the ground, and I both worked on the sales side of brands for years and have always loved visiting good retail stores in our travels. When we went to shows or met with buyers in other cities we'd always drop into stores we'd been following online just to meet the people behind them. Through this process, we realized how much we loved walking into a place that was inspiring, smelled pleasing, was curated and thought-out in it's layout. When it all comes together right it's a beautiful thing. Perhaps more than anything else, I loved watching people interact within a space. When someone working in the shop loved what they did they would engage with customers, with each other, and with friends in a way that was inviting and warm. That's who we want to be here: curators of that feeling of belonging.

Nov 24, 2013

Nov 22, 2013

We strive to live a lifestyle that injects thought, creativity and relationship into all things that we do here at LF. Few things bring people together and create an atmosphere of valuable discussion and interaction like meals do. We strongly believe that a good meal with close friends, the smell of cooking food, the passing a bowl of something made with care around a table, the pouring of a cocktail and clinking of a glass....those are things that we shouldn't take for granted and that we should incorporate more into our communities together. So much of what we do here as a small business is with almost no budget and we have really tight finances so we know that almost everything that gets done here is based on the goodwill and help of friends. A few weeks ago we got together at our friend Betsy's house for a celebratory dinner for the launch of our shop and brought together several of the people that pitched in on our project and lent their hand to help us along the way. It was all a part of our cohesive branding video conceptualized by Imaginale and Ave Styles. We thought we'd share some of our favorite fall recipes in case you wanted to give them a try for your next gathering. Life's too short to not gather up your friends, neighbors, strangers, anyone and share a meal together.
CAULIFLOWER SOUP

Ingredients:

Olive oil 2 tbsps

1 head of cauliflower

1 medium sized yellow onion

4 cups of chicken broth or veggie broth

parmesan cheese for sprinkling (optional)

truffle oil (optional)

rustic bread (optional)

Directions:

put 2 tbsps of olive oil into a large pan or medium sized sauce pan on medium heat.

peel and slice the entire onion

sauté the onions until lightly brown and soft.

while the onion is cooking, cut the cauliflower stalk off and rinse the cauliflower head well

cut the cauliflower into pieces (it doesn't have to be chopped to small)

add the cauliflower to the pan once the onion becomes soft and toss together

sauté the cauliflower for about 5-7 minutes

then add your 4 cups of broth, bring to a light boil

once the cauliflower is soft to poach ~5-7 minutes (if you pierce with a fork easily, it should be ready)

turn the stove off

transfer the soup to the blender and put on the puree or liquid setting

once blended, transfer back to the pot and keep on low or serve immediately

Oct 10, 2013

This shop is the culmination of years of internal struggle to create something that utilized all aspects of who we were and to incorporate that purpose and passion into our work. We have always loved the retail experience when you find that place where the smell, the feel when you cross through the door, the light, the crisp folded garments, and the people working the floor all come together in an inspiring way and it makes you feel like you are in a different place when you enter in. For the past 8 years Kelli and I worked for other apparel brands, designed lines, sold at shows, traveled and acted as ambassadors for product and built relationships with other brands, stores and buyers. Throughout that process, we felt truly blessed, but we internally craved a place close to home where we could curate something of our own, something we believed in that supported our community, the local arts, incubated ideas, and worked with other small businesses. We wanted a place where people came in and were inspired and felt they belonged. After a particularly long travel stretch working with some apparel brands this past year and the wear and tear that came with being constantly away from home, I stepped back and realized that now was the time, there was no better time to take a chance and to risk it all on something we cared about even though we knew the traditional brick and mortar retail model was not a lucrative business. Kelli and I prayed, trusted and dove in full force to begin the process of creating and curating a store/creative space that we felt was an offering of who we were and showcased products and brands along our journey that we loved and that we truly wanted to celebrate with others. The space was one where we also wanted to showcase goods that we felt told better stories than all of the mass-produced and constant consumption-focused cheap goods out there that we used briefly and then threw away. We really have a love for a perfect pair denim that wears and lasts, for boots that age beautifully, for accessories made by hand with local materials, and for brands that were taking the time to invest in sourcing in the USA or were working with co-ops overseas to create goods that had more meaning and lasted. It's about more than just retail, we wanted a space where people came and had a hot coffee or a cold beer, where they could ask us questions about product and get the best service, but also friendship. We envisioned a place where conversations happened, where passions for new projects were realized and where we worked to help build the small business in our city through our collaboration with small brands and local creatives. The goal of what we hope to accomplish here is more than just to have a place where we work on creating and showcasing goods that we love and offer it to you, it's to build relationships and empower those in and around us through what we do and the passion we have for our work and the products we carry here.
Come by sometime, let's have a coffee.
Sam + Kelli
Video created by Imaginale Design // imaginaledesign.com // @imaginale
Art Direction by AVE Styles // avestyles.com // @avestylesInterior Design by SMID // smidthat.com// @smidthat
Florals by Lace & Likes // laceandlikes.com // @laceandlikes
Song: "Rise" by Tony Anderson from The Music Bed // themusicbed.comSpecial thanks to:
Bradley Mountain // bradleymountain.com // @bradleymountain
Richer Poorer // richer-poorer.com // @richerpoorer // @vincethebeliever